Before I realized it, she had quickly changed clothes and handed me the dress she had been wearing.
Her stance was unyielding, and with a sigh, I took the dress.
The smooth texture of the fabric clung to my hands, and a faint scent teased my nose.
From behind me came a low voice.
“Rebecca seems to think I’m some exceptionally noble person, but I wasn’t treated like this from the start either.”
“……”
“There were times when I was so hungry I stole someone else’s bread and got beaten up badly, and nights when I had nowhere to sleep, huddling under someone else’s roof.”
Isabella smiled gently at me, her story so unbelievable that I turned toward her in shock.
“See? I told you. I knew it would suit you.”
At that moment, a large hand covered her face, the one that had been smiling at me.
Before I could even scream, another hand appeared behind me and clamped over my mouth.
The sound of rain trickling through the open back door pierced sharply in my ears.
“Damn it. What were you doing in this cramped little place? I waited for you to come out, and you forced me to come in. A noble lady like you wandering into a place like this.”
A rough, gruff voice grumbled.
“There’s no time. Which one of them is Isabella?”
To the reproachful tone, the man holding me answered,
“Can’t you tell? No way the woman in rags is the noble one, right? Of course, this one must be Isabella.”
I shook my head desperately, twisting my whole body, but it was useless.
“There’s no need to leave any unnecessary witnesses, right? All we need is the woman who knows where the item is.”
“Ah, I see. Then this one isn’t needed after all.”
The man holding Isabella delivered a death sentence in a flat voice.
Soon, his large hand gripped her pale, slender neck.
Isabella’s struggling body went limp, powerless.
The men threw her lifeless body onto the floor, and then grabbed my hair and dragged me outside.
“So, you grew up outside, huh? Seems like you’ve had a rough life for a noble.”
He sneered, apparently noticing the calluses on my hands.
“Don’t feel too bad. There aren’t many who care if a lady survives.”
“……”
“If you hand over the ‘item’ willingly, at least we won’t kill you painfully.”
Watching someone die in front of me, I trembled, racking my brain frantically.
If I screamed right now, would Isabella’s bodyguard come to save me?
I thought of the man with the chilling presence.
“Hey. Where’s the item?”
My back was soaked in cold sweat.
Their murderous intent was real.
“I… I don’t know what item you mean.”
“Hah.”
The man snorted as if my answer were ridiculous, gripping my wrist tighter.
I instinctively muffled the scream about to escape my mouth.
Even more than worrying about the knights who would rush to my aid, I worried about Oliver, lying inside.
Those men were cruel, and they wouldn’t leave witnesses alive.
Oliver… was so fragile that one kick from them could stop his breath.
“Hey.”
Gritting my teeth, I lifted my head.
“Th-That woman!”
The pitiful Isabella, who had died without even screaming once.
“She has it.”
At my words, the two men glanced at me suspiciously.
“Really?”
I nodded frantically, dragging my injured ankle toward the back door.
I had no time to think about anything else.
As I crawled halfway, the men watched me silently.
Opening the door, I saw a corpse lying coldly on the warehouse floor.
“Don’t waste time.”
A low, threatening voice made my hair stand on end.
Just as the threat reached me again, I reached into Isabella’s dress.
At that moment, her body, which had stopped moving, twitched.
Suddenly, her green eyes opened and looked at me.
Her cold, stiff hand grasped my hand buried deep in her dress.
I couldn’t even breathe, shaking helplessly, trying to pull back.
“I-I’m sorry…”
My whispered apology filled with guilt made her blink.
Once. Twice. Three times.
As soon as that fleeting moment, which felt like an eternity, passed, the back door swung open.
“Oh my… what the… my lady!”
It was Hugh, calling her in shock.
Exhausting her remaining strength, Isabella’s hand fell limp again.
At the same time, dazzling light filled my vision.
[Interesting.]
A sweet voice seemed to speak directly into my mind.
[It’s been such a long time since a gate to the surface opened.]
Slowly, I removed my hand from my eyes, and the dim surroundings looked unchanged.
When I turned around and looked back, I froze at the sight.
The men who had threatened me moments ago were frozen like stone.
Next to them was Hugh, sword drawn, his face contorted in shock.
[Such… the human who summoned me… has already passed away?]
A pair of white wings appeared from the void, quietly wrapping around Isabella’s body.
The cocoon-like wings slowly shrank, taking the shape of a familiar person.
“Oliver?”
The figure with Oliver’s face arched its eyes like a bow.
[It seems my name is Oliver.]
Same face. Same attire.
Even the small scar on the forehead matched, but I knew instinctively that this wasn’t Oliver.
[A mere human cannot see through my true form. To your eyes, I appear as the most precious and familiar being.]
Though I couldn’t fully understand, one thing was clear: this being was not human.
Backing away hesitantly, the Oliver-shaped being reached out a hand.
[There’s no need to be afraid, human.]
The androgynous, enchanting voice gradually shifted into Oliver’s youthful voice.
[I merely came because I was called.]
“You said you were called?”
At that moment, something slowly rose from beneath Isabella’s dress.
It was a brooch, glowing with a blue light.
[The gate opened earlier than it should have, probably thanks to this item, though the summoning conditions were insufficient. Fascinating that a divine item remains on this land.]
The brooch floated in the air and slowly fell into my palm.
[Oh? Did the owner give it to you?]
I muttered absentmindedly.
“Isabella gave it to me…”
I recalled her eyes, closing helplessly at the last moment, words left unspoken.
What had she wanted to tell me?
[It’s unfortunate. After the boundary for the order of dimensions is drawn, a gate to the mid-world rarely opens.]
The Oliver-shaped being smiled at me, regretful.
[Since the summoner has died, the gate will inevitably close again.]
“What happens if the gate closes?”
[Time will flow according to its original course.]
Original course?
When I turned sharply, I saw the men glaring at me, and Hugh pointing his sword at them.
The men who had mercilessly killed Isabella, and Hugh—none of them would leave me unharmed.
Thinking of Hugh’s cold gaze, I shivered and reached toward the frozen men.
As I struggled to draw the sword from a man’s waist, the Oliver-shaped being spoke regretfully.
[It’s useless. Within the time frozen by the summoning, nothing can change. You will face the predetermined outcome.]
“No.”
I couldn’t accept it.
I didn’t want to die.
Just now, there was hope I could finally show Oliver to the priest.
There was no way these men would leave Oliver alive as a potential witness.
Hiding my trembling hands, I spoke desperately.
“No… no. I don’t want to die.”
Tears slid down my cheeks and dropped to the floor.
The being, watching me with a faint smile, slowly spoke.
[If you wish, there is one way.]
My ears perked up.
“One… a way?”
[You continue the contract with the summoner in their place.]
The being reached out, and Isabella’s body floated in the air, glowing.
“C-Can that be done?”
Swallowing hard, I asked, and he nodded, singing his words.
[If you have the proper qualifications to take the contract.]
“Qualifications…?”
Could I really have the qualifications to take Isabella’s place?
